Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Boycote 1291-2 Ass 1321 AD

• Boycott 1552 PR(H)

• Boycot 1697 Morden

• Baycott 1582 SBL6808

Etymology

Probably 'cottage(s) of the servants', v. *boi(a). The name occurs also in Bk and Wo, and, in the form Bycott, in D. Boia only occurs as a personal name in recorded OE, and this is suspected of being of Continental origin (Feilitzen 205). ME  boie , however, is well-recorded in much the same senses as modern boy .There are place-name compounds with tūn, land and wīc , and the term occurs with a wide range of elements in ME field-names, some of which are listed in PN Ess 426. The existence of the word in OE  is probably established by the occurrence of boiwic in the bounds of Aldenham Hrt in S 124.